Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c7.17

c7.17

The all-sea route at first lay along the coast from Indian ports to different parts of South-east Asia. The two extreme points in India for the departure of the vessels were Broach on the west and Tāmralipti on the east, and there were many good harbours between these two, both along the eastern and the western coast. We know detailed accounts of these from the *Periplus of the Erythaean Sea* and Ptolemy. According to the latter, the vessels, bound for Malay Peninsula and other ports further beyond, made the coastal voyage as far as Paloura, near modern Gopalpur in Ganjam District, and then made a direct voyage across the high seas. Having reached Malay Peninsula the vessels could pass through Malacca Strait to the different islands of the East Indies and the coast of Indo-Chinese Peninsula. But, as in the latter case the vessels had to double the entire length of the Peninsula, many travellers got down at the Isthmus of Kra, and cut across the Malay Peninsula at its narrowest point from Takua Pa to Caiya and other places on the opposite coast of the Bay of Bandon. This is proved by archaeological remains round about these places. There is also a persistent local tradition in favour of early migration of Indians across this route. Persons of an Indian cast of features are common on the west coast near Takua Pa, while colonies of Indian descent still survive on the coast of the Bay of Bandon and trace the arrival of their ancestors from India by an overland route across the Malay Peninsula.²